Wednesday, 29 January 2014

White House weighs petition to deport Justin Bieber

Washington (AFP) -

As if
Barack Obama didn't have enough problems to deal with already, his administration now is being asked to weigh in on the grave matter of Justin Bieber's bad behavior.

By
midday Wednesday (1700 GMT), a petition on the White House website
calling for the deportation of the Canadian-born teen idol had garnered
103,000 names -- easily surpassing the threshold of 100,000 signatures
required for presidential consideration.

"We
the people of the United States feel that we are being wrongly
represented in the world of pop culture," says the petition, created by
one "J.A." in Detroit on January 23, the day Bieber was busted in Miami
Beach for impaired driving and illegal drag racing in a flashy Italian
sports car.

"We would like to
see the dangerous, reckless, destructive and drug-abusing Justin Bieber
deported and his green card revoked. He is not only threatening the
safety of our people but he is also a terrible influence on our nation's
youth. We the people would like to remove Justin Bieber from our
society."

The White House
website hosts citizens' petitions on other, more heady issues such as
the legalization of marijuana and a pardon for National Security Agency
whistleblower Edward Snowden.

"Every petition that
crosses the threshold will be reviewed by the appropriate staff and
receive a response," assistant White House spokesman Matt Lehrich said.

But
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki cautioned that the petition
program "doesn't always determine a step will be taken, it's more of
another opportunity for the voices of the American people to be heard."

There
was no comment from Bieber himself, who according to gossip websites
was back in Los Angeles on Wednesday after a weekend beach break in
Panama.

Bieber, 19, is
understood to be living and working in the United States under a
renewable O-1 visa for entertainers, rather than a green card for
permanent resident status.

It remains unclear whether Bieber's visa to stay in the United States would be affected by his arrest.

Mug Shot

Now out on bail, Bieber is
due back in Miami for a court appearance on Valentine's Day, when he
will also also face charges of resisting arrest and using an expired
driver's license.

Police in
Los Angeles are pursuing their own investigation into an earlier
incident in which Bieber allegedly hurled eggs at a neighbor's house.